DIY Party Designs by Dimitra D

This past June, I was hired to design and coordinate a retirement party for a retiring LAUSD (La Unified School District) ESL teacher. This was a late afternoon/evening event that was fully catered, and had a guest list of over 50 people. With a little ingenuity, some simple DIY tabletop decor, and a beautiful house to host the event at, the party was a huge success!

Homemade faux chalkboards signs were made to give that “teacher” feel to the party, and table tops featured cacti in a ‘succulent summer’ theme.

Here are some photos from the event, and some tips on how to create simple, elegant, eco-friendly tabletop decor for your next event! =)

DIY Chalkboard Signs:
How to make (up to 4) faux chalkboard signs for under $20:

• Black poster board & chalk (pk of 2 @ Office Depot)
• Pre-cut wood (1/4″ or 1/2″ wide  & 1/8″ thick @ Home Depot)
• Hot glue gun & glue sticks
• T-square, tape measure, utility knife

First, cut the wood into sections for the frame. You can also have the wood pieces pre-cut for you at your local Home Depot Center. I had 14″ strips for the top and bottom pieces, and 8″ strips for the sides (this worked for the size of the board I got at Office Depot, which I sliced in half in order to get two signs out of 1 poster board).

Next, create a frame by gluing the wood to the surface of the poster boards, using the hot glue gun. Be sure to put a generous amount of glue on the boards and quickly apply the wood before the glue dries.

Once you have the poster framed, take a stick of chalk sideways, and rub it sparingly all around the surface of the poster board. Then, rub the poster down with your fingers to even out the chalk. This gives the black poster board that “chalkboard” look. Finally, you are free to write whatever you need to write on the board, and make your event a success! You can also re-use the signs by wiping off and erasing your writing with an old towel (completely DRY!), then creating a new message.

DIY Simple Succulent Tabletop Decor:

• Lanterns ($14.99 for large and $7.99 for small @ IKEA)
• Candles
• Dried flower pedals (from garden)
• Dinner mats ($2.99 each @ IKEA)
• 4″ Succulents ($2.99 each @ IKEA, or at your local nursery/home depot)
• Hot glue gun & glue sticks
• Rope (Home Depot)
• Old Table Cloth/Fabric
• River Rock

I began by taking an old table cloth, and cutting it into sections to wrap the plastic succulent pots. I then glued the fabric to the plastic pots with the hot glue gun, covering plastic completely. Next, I wrapped twine around the pots…gluing it at a starting point on the top, periodically as I wound it down around the pot, and again at the bottom finishing point. You will probably have excess fabric sticking out at the top, which I chose to cut flush with the top of the pots. This project is a tad time consuming, but a really nice alternative to buying new pots! =)

The last design objective for this retirement party was to create an eclectic lounge area for guests to enjoy cocktails before dinner was served. All of the furniture already belonged to the client, and was simply gathered and arranged in the empty basement of the house where the party was being held.

I had 1920/30’s movie posters printed ($9 each @ Office Depot) of actors like Charlie Chaplinand Cecil B. DeMille, who once gathered at this historic residence where the party was held.

Hope you enjoyed these simple DIY party design ideas. For more information please feel free to contact me at  http://djd-design.com/Contact.html or friend DJD Design on facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/DJD-Design/210315872316907?ref=ts

Happy Summer!